Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog said today that prices per regular gallon of gas in California were up an unprecedented 96 cents in the last month, nearly triple the 38-cent increase per gallon nationwide.

Santa Monica, CA—California refinery shutdowns and slowdowns are boosting refinery profit margins by as much as 72 percent, according to a key indicator called “crack spreads,” Consumer Watchdog said today.

Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog said today that the retail price per gallon of gas in California has soared 53 cents between February 2, when Tesoro began shutting down its refinery in Martinez, through today. A regular gallon of California gasoline now costs an average of $2.96 a gallon.

Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog said today that the spot price of gas leapt a dime overnight, as the group had predicted in the wake of two refinery shutdowns affecting 16 percent of the state’s refining capacity.

Today’s explosion at the Torrance refinery couldn’t come at a better time—for refiners interested in driving up the price of gas.

That’s why we are calling for the California Attorney General, Governor, and lawmakers to step in. We want the Attorney General to send in some boots on the ground to rule out any price manipulation by Tesoro when it shut down its Martinez refinery. We also want to know what first caused Exxon to tell one observer that its Torrance refinery would be offline for two weeks due to a mechanical problem, and then what caused an explosion at the refinery today.

Santa Monica, CA—Responding to a shutdown of two refineries that produce 16 percent of the state’s gasoline, Consumer Watchdog called on state officials to send independent inspectors to verify refinery claims that the shutdowns were really necessary.

Santa Monica, CA—Consumer Watchdog today sent a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Robert Weisenmiller, Chair of the California Energy Commission, asking that they investigate Tesoro’s decision to shut down its Martinez refinery indefinitely as steelworkers mount a national strike.

Santa Monica, CA — Far from turning over a new leaf, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) listed eight violations inspectors discovered at Exide Technologies’ lead battery recycling facility in Vernon without levying a single fine, Consumer Watchdog said.

Santa Monica, CA — Sacramento Superior Court has denied Boeing’s motion for summary judgment in a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit over the demolition and disposal of radioactively contaminated structures from the site of a partial nuclear meltdown near Los Angeles, Consumer Watchdog said today.

Santa Monica, CA — Following a Nebraska court’s ruling that the Keystone XL pipeline can be built, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said the issue should be moot for the Obama administration, the decision-maker, because the building of the pipeline will raise American gasoline prices – which are at historic lows.

A report released by Consumer Watchdog at the summit showed that the companies had spent more than $100 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during the last five years in California to combat environmental protections.